


For Later

by sepsner



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Confession, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Pining, Pre-Kerberos Mission, because fuck you i can do what i want, keith is 17-20, shiro is 20-23
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 07:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13141596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepsner/pseuds/sepsner
Summary: Shiro has wanted to tell Keith how he's felt for years. But after going missing, his plans were thrown off incredibly.





	For Later

__ “It looks good on you.”  
  
__ Shiro stood behind Keith as the two of them stared into the mirror. Looking back at them was Keith in his Garrison uniform. The two of them, standing together in their uniforms, drinking in this new promotion.  
  
__ Keith snorted. “It looks dumb. The orange is an ugly colour.”  
  
__ Shiro was pretty sure nothing could look bad on Keith, even this ugly orange.  
  
__ He wanted to tell him now. But Keith was seventeen, and Shiro was twenty, and there was something inappropriate in this. Not to mention this was Keith’s big day, and Shiro couldn’t risk potentially ruining it with something so stupid as a confession that Keith may not even want to hear.  
  
__ Shiro put his hand on Keith’s shoulder, beaming. “A fighter pilot, huh? I’m proud of you, Keith.”  
  
__ Keith shrugged his shoulders, but smiled anyway. Not into the mirror, but over his shoulder, right at Shiro. Shiro looked back down at him, his heart melting at the smile. Keith’s smiles were so rare, so precious.  
  
__ Shiro would take that image with him to Kerberos. And when he came back, he’d tell Keith everything.  
  


* * *

  
  
When things went disastrously wrong on the Kerberos mission, Shiro was certain he'd never see Keith again. The Galra took so much from him, but the one thing they _gave_ Shiro was time. Time to think over his regrets. His biggest regret being Keith.  
  
Not making friends or getting close with Keith, of course. Shiro could never regret that. More the opposite; he had never told Keith just how much he meant to him. Every day on that damn Galra ship he thought about Keith, and every day he told himself that if he saw Keith again, he would tell him everything.  
  
__“It’s good to have you back.”  
  
And yet, they were reunited, and Shiro didn't say anything. Keith had gotten older, obviously, but he had _grown_ , too. His expression was more harsh, his way of speaking more certain. But it made Shiro's heart sink to see just how much of an exclusionist Keith had become. There was independence, and then there was living alone in a shack in the desert for years.  
  
But it was still Keith. Shiro saw him through the small smiles, the warm looks he gave people when he thought no one was watching him. Shiro found himself wanting Keith to give those warm looks to Shiro, for him to lower his guard just slightly so he could give him a smile. Shiro's heart ached at every hint of a smile, just wanting to make Keith smile as much as he used to before he left.  
  
And then Shiro almost died, again. And yet. As the two of them sat by the makeshift campfire that Keith had made to keep Shiro warm, did Shiro tell him just how much he needed Keith in his life? Of course not. “If anything happens to me, I want you to lead Voltron.” It wasn't what Shiro wanted to say to him, but he ended up fighting against the feelings in his tightening chest, and that's what they ended up talking about.  
  
He couldn't wait anymore. When would the next time he almost died be? If Shiro kept putting it off, he would never say it. And he couldn't stand the thought of not telling Keith just what he meant to him.  
  
Shiro found Keith in the first place he looked for him; the training room. Honestly, he was hoping Keith _wouldn't_ be there; whenever anyone needed Keith, the training room was the first place they looked, and most of the time, he was there.  
  
“Keith,” he called, making his presence known so as to not startle the other man.  
  
Keith looked over and him and nodded, acknowledging Shiro, before returning to the simulation. How many times had he beaten this robot? How many tactics had Keith practiced?  
  
Shiro folded his arms and leaned against the wall. Keith was breathing heavily and his hair was sticking to his face, sweat glistening on his forehead and arms. “You should take a break,” Shiro suggested, frowning.  
  
Keith didn't respond, as if he didn't hear Shiro at all.  
  
“Keith, you should take a break.”  
  
Shiro _knew_ Keith heard him.  
  
“Keith,” Shiro snapped. As he was ignored again, Shiro grit his teeth together. “Override. Deactivate training protocol.”  
  
The castle ship's AI recognised Shiro's voice. As he was programmed to hold more authority over Keith, the training robot stopped in its tracks. Keith grunted in frustration, throwing his dagger to the ground.  
  
“What?” He snapped, finally turning towards Shiro. “This clearly isn't an emergency, or else you wouldn't be leaning against the wall like a snarky asshole.”  
  
“I wanted to talk to you.”  
  
“We can talk while I do this.”  
  
“No, we can’t,” Shiro sighed, “I can talk at you, but that’s it. You didn’t even reply to me when I was calling for you.”  
  
Shiro could see in Keith’s eyes that he wanted to argue, but was holding himself back. Instead, Keith picked up his blade and sheathed it into his belt. “Then what? What is it?” He was still annoyed, but calming down. Shiro knew he had just caught him at a bad time, when he was already full of adrenaline and ready to fight.  
  
“Not here,” Shiro said, pushing himself from the wall. “Come on.”  
  
Keith sighed as he followed Shiro from the training room, turning off the main power supply to the lights and robots as they left. Shiro could hear Keith’s huffs get quieter as they went, until he was breathing normally. He had calmed down from the training. A relief.  
  
Shiro lead Keith to the bedrooms, a hallway of doors that branched into identical rooms. Shiro knew his room had some personal items that he had picked up along their missions, but Keith? His room was always so bare. There was something so upsetting about it, as if Keith didn’t want personal belongings. As if he wanted to exist in the most low-impact way he could.  
  
Taking Keith into a bedroom seemed like a good idea. Get some privacy, have an intimate moment. But that was the problem. If Keith wasn’t interested, the intimacy may be too much. Even worse - the last thing Shiro wanted was Keith feeling like he had to reciprocate these emotions. The hallway would do.  
  
Shiro stood in front of Keith, his hands on his hips. Keith looked over him, arms crossed. “What did you want?”  
  
“I just wanted to tell you-” Shiro wanted to blab, to tell him that he was almost certain that he loved him since Keith became a fighter pilot, and that he was certain that he was completely and utterly in love now. But his mouth wasn’t as eager as his brain. Not when it came to words, at least. “I’m proud of you, Keith.”  
  
Keith’s expression was baffled. “Thanks? Uh, Shiro. Was that it? Is that all you wanted?”  
  
Oh, god. What kind of an idiot would Shiro look like if he dragged Keith from training just to tell him that? He could say that any day. “Not just because of your involvement with Voltron. I’m proud of your growth as a person, Keith. You’re different than the last time we spoke, years ago.”  
  
“Shiro,” Keith’s voice was sharp. “Is this it? I don’t understand.”  
  
Shiro rubbed his face, trying so hard to think of the words. The right words for Keith. “I’m getting to it. I promise. Keith. You’ve become an amazing fighter, and if anything happened to me, I’d be confident in your leading abilities. You might not think so, but you get on with everyone. Maybe not in the ways you think ‘getting on’ should be like, but trust me, you and the other paladins act just like family.” Shiro put his hands on Keith’s shoulders, sizing up. Now was the time, surely.  
  
__Deep breaths, Shiro. You’ve been waiting years for this. You can do this.  
  
“And Keith, you mean so much to me.” Shiro smiled softly down at the confused man. “So, so much. And I needed to tell you before something happened to me that-” Shiro gulped. “That I…”  
  
A door to Shiro’s right swung open and he jumped, gripping onto Keith’s shoulders from the shock. Pidge stood in the doorway, staring at the two of them.  
  
“Uh,” her eyes darted from Keith’s baffled expression to Shiro’s bright blush. “Should I ask?”  
  
Shiro removed his arms, putting them behind his back. “I was just telling Keith,” he nodded at him, “that I’m proud of him.” Shiro nodded at Pidge, then set off down the hallway, running from the embarrassing clusterfuck of a confession attempt that he had just made Keith suffer through. Of course they couldn’t get near-privacy on the castle ship.  
  
Shiro would just have to think up something else.  
  


* * *

  
  
__ “You’ll be back soon, right?” Keith threw himself onto Shiro’s bed, next to the pamphlet detailing the Kerberos Mission. “Relative, of course. Pluto is a hell of a way away.”  
  
__ “Of course.” Shiro laughed a little, amused by the almost childlike way Keith was acting.  
  
__ Keith sat up, absentmindedly flipping through the pamphlet. “You’ll still be back to see me graduate, right?”  
  
__ “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Keith.” Shiro sat beside him on the bed. “How could I miss my favourite fighter pilot’s graduation?”  
  
__ “Shut up,” Keith laughed, looking away sheepishly. Shiro wanted to brush the hair from his face, cup his cheek and pull him close… The best thing Shiro could bring with him on the mission would be a kiss from Keith. Shiro’s stomach flipped just thinking about it, and the urge grew in him to ask, a pining in his chest. He’d just have to say one thing, and maybe…  
  
__ “I’ll miss you.”  
  
__ Keith brushed his hair behind his ear, giving Shiro a small smile. “Yeah, Shiro. I’ll miss you, too.”  
  


* * *

  
  
It was… well, it wasn’t midnight, because they were in space, but the castle ship had simulated night time so the Paladins could fall into a natural sleep cycle. Shiro’s natural sleep cycle, however, was shambles. He was awake for most of the day, with a few hours sleep every night, leaving nights like these to be more common than he’d like to admit.  
  
In the kitchen, drinking milk, Shiro felt miserable. His body was working against him, and thoughts of Keith plagued his mind every time he fell asleep. Keith rejecting him, refusing to speak to him after a confession, pretending Shiro no longer existed. The reality was different, he knew. But knowing didn’t make him feel any better.  
  
Speak of the devil. Keith shuffled into the kitchen, presumably not noticing Shiro lurking around in the shadows next to the alien refrigerator. Keith rummaged through the cupboards and pulled out a glass, then headed over to the sink.  
  
Now would be perfect. It wasn’t a bedroom, and there was no way anyone would stumble in accidentally and ruin their moment. Shiro took a deep breath. Now, when all of his nightmares said it wasn’t going to happen. Now.  
  
“Keith.” Shiro watched as Keith jumped, almost dropping the glass.  
  
“Shiro, holy shit- cow,” he huffed, regaining his composure. “Don’t scare me like that. Were you hiding or something?”  
  
“No, I-- I didn’t realise you were here. Keith,” Shiro put his milk down and scratched the back of his head. “I know I’ve been acting really strangely today. I’m sorry.”  
  
Keith brushed the hair from his face and tucked it behind his ear. A few strands fell out of place, and Shiro had to stop himself from reaching out and fixing them back into place. “It’s fine.” Keith’s voice pulled him back to reality. “You’re a strange guy anyway.”  
  
A smile played on Keith’s lips, and Shiro melted. Such a cocky little brat who acted like he knew too much. But, fuck. Shiro was helpless. “It’s because I wanted to tell you something, but it’s difficult for me to say. Just…” He gave a worried smile. “I don’t want this to mess up the team.”  
  
Keith took a moment, then snorted. “Shiro? Nothing you could say to me could mess up the team. Even if you were really weird about it. Which, uh,” he glanced Shiro over, “you are being. Like, now.”  
  
“Oh.” Shiro covered his mouth with his fist, faking a cough, but really just trying his best to hide the blood rising to his face. “Well. You might change your mind after I tell you.”  
  
“Just say it!” Keith urged him on, a smile still on his face. “Come on. It’s me.”  
  
“It sure is you.” With his heart beating like a power drill in his chest, Shiro put his hands back on Keith’s shoulders. “I’m so proud of you. That’s not all.” His hands rose to cup Keith’s face, holding his cheeks, feeling them heat up.  
  
Keith put his hand on Shiro’s wrist, leaning forward slightly, his voice barely above a whisper. “Then what is it?”  
  
Shiro’s heart sung. From Keith’s reaction to this alone, Shiro assumed that maybe, possibly, there was a chance that he might feel the same. Please feel the same…  
  
“I love you, Keith.”  
  
Keith’s small smile cracked and spread over his face, blushing a soft pink. “I thought no one would say that to me in my life.” He blinked, and Shiro swore he could see his eyes welling up. “I love you, Takashi. I have since… since before I became a fighter pilot.”  
  
“What?” Shiro was dumbfounded, blown away by how ridiculous this situation was. He could have confessed all those years ago, at any of those opportunities, and Keith would have felt the same? He couldn’t help but laugh, leaning his forehead against Keith’s as he did.  
  
“I don’t get the joke,” Keith hummed, smiling in his voice.  
  
Shiro rubbed their foreheads together, shaking his head. “It’s nothing. I’m just…” He pulled away, taking in Keith’s face again. “I’m a huge idiot.”  
  
“I know!” Keith laughed. “But you’re my--” He stopped in his tracks, mouth hanging open slightly. Gradually, he closed his mouth, expression turning neutral. No… _serious_. Shiro felt chills run up his back. “Takashi Shirogane,” Keith said plainly, “will you be my idiot?”  
  
Shiro leaned back and laughed, bright and hefty, probably risking waking up half the ship. “Of course!” He pushed their foreheads back together, his heart settling. “Of course.”  
  
Keith tilted his head up towards Shiro and rubbed their noses together. He put down his glass and grabbed Shiro’s shirt, pulling the other a little closer. “So now you’re my idiot,” he hummed, “I don’t suppose you’d mind helping me fall asleep?”  
  
Shiro’s heart raced. If this meant sharing a bed with Keith, he was _hungry_ for it. He moved his hands from Keith’s shoulders, dropping to his waist. “Of course,” he smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”


End file.
